In three weeks, I’ll be heading back to Positano for Annie’s spectacular Italian wedding.
Can time speed up already? (But not really, because I have so. much. to do before then)
Her wedding celebration will be such a special weekend with friends that I adore, a trip that I’ll remember forever. It’ll be at the most gorgeous location, Villa Treville, overlooking the ocean. My bridesmaid dress arrived yesterday and I almost forgot to give the Fedex guy his pen back after signing for it and running inside to rip open the box and try it on. I’m that excited.
Sivan and I wanted Annie’s bridal shower to draw upon the Italy theme. Since it was an intimate group, we felt something simple, classic and elegant would fit the bill to get everyone excited for September’s festivities.
The shower was surprisingly easy to put together using a mix of amazing vendors and our own DIY touch. Sivan brought over her clear ghost chairs and made Annie a special bridal chair with faux flowers, greenery and a lace doily “wife” sign. It was maybe the sweetest/prettiest thing I’ve ever seen, but I’d expect nothing less from her as she’s basically a bohemian Martha Stewart genius when it comes to arts and crafts. I love that she’s never afraid to actually “do it yourself.” Personal touches like this are what help make an event unique.
We ordered lunch from Coral Tree Cafe (grilled salmon, kale salads and simple farfalle pomodoro pasta) and handled the drinks ourselves, setting up an aperol spritz bar by the buffet table. Winc provided Summer Water rosé and Sivan froze flower ice cubes the night before, adding a fun touch. I picked lemons from my lemon tree and scattered them around the table as decor. This was inspired by Annie’s wedding invitation, which has lemons and florals around the crest of their initials.
The Bouqs kindly provided arrangements for the shower, also based on a Positano color scheme. They nailed it! We broke down the bouquets and trimmed them to fit smaller vases, as we wanted each girl to have flowers at her seat. White, green, and yellow felt so crisp and summery. We’re both pink girls, but for this occasion we wanted the shower to have a citrus garden feel.
I wore a turquoise blue jumpsuit with buttons and ruffle off-the-shoulder sleeves by Flynn Skye. The same jumpsuit is available cropped at the ankle with cutouts, which is fun for a more casual summer party. It also comes in both mauve pink and black, both pretty options. Gold drop earrings completed the look and I kept my makeup light. I’ve been to a few weddings lately but I really feel like this year and next year are bringing a wave of them – and I’m discovering that dressing for showers, weddings and all wedding related events is a serious task! There’s a sweet spot for finding outfits: they need to be an appropriate yet flattering silhouette that shows you off without being “too much,” elegant (and non-white). Also preferably something you can wear multiple times, styled in new ways. I’ll have to elaborate on this in further posts as I’ve found some good pieces lately for weddings.
A couple girls messaged me about Annie’s dress, which was a gorgeous strapless white number with three tie-bows. She altered it to be above the knee height, which I prefer to it’s original length too.
The rose cake was gluten and dairy free to accommodate allergies in the group, but seriously SO delicious. It’s from Karma Baker and if you’re in the LA area I suggest checking them out!
I designed the invitations on Paperless Post as I wanted a physical invitation Annie could keep forever. I was impressed at how many design options Paperless Post had – I went for a rose gold floral design and mixed a modern-looking font with a traditional serif font. I loved how it turned out.
Now for the fun part. Given that this was the first bridal shower I’ve ever hosted, I wasn’t sure what exactly you did at one – besides eat and drink of course. After some extensive Googling I was amused to find that there are hundreds of bridal shower games people play. Everything from super raunchy and scandalous to silly and funny, to sweet and memorable. I put together a twist on the “Heads Up” game and made up categories: Italian lifestyle, famous couples on film, famous couples in real life, “White Objects,” and facts about the bride and groom. Each girl had a category and held up a card to her head while we all threw clues out and made her guess. It was hysterical, mostly because a couple of us are uber competitive! The game goes by pretty fast, so I’d recommend having about 10 categories. My favorite part of this was probably when Sivan guessed “Isabella Tortellini” while frantically trying to remember “Rosselini.”
We also had Annie guess who gave her which gift, and it was fun to watch her unbox every little lacey piece of bridal lingerie. We managed to each give her a different one – so she is fully stocked and prepared with everything from bralettes and bathrobes to slips and shorts.
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